diff --git a/gateway/run.py b/gateway/run.py
index 6adb98b8e20..cf30b6ffb95 100644
--- a/gateway/run.py
+++ b/gateway/run.py
@@ -4465,10 +4465,15 @@ class GatewayRunner:
         # Drain any recovered process watchers (from crash recovery checkpoint)
         try:
             from tools.process_registry import process_registry
-            while process_registry.pending_watchers:
-                watcher = process_registry.pending_watchers.pop(0)
+            watchers = process_registry.pending_watchers
+            # Process in batches of 100 with event-loop yield points to avoid
+            # O(n^2) event-loop blocking when recovering thousands of watchers.
+            for i, watcher in enumerate(watchers):
                 asyncio.create_task(self._run_process_watcher(watcher))
                 logger.info("Resumed watcher for recovered process %s", watcher.get("session_id"))
+                if i % 100 == 99:
+                    await asyncio.sleep(0)
+            watchers.clear()
         except Exception as e:
             logger.error("Recovered watcher setup error: %s", e)
 
@@ -7938,7 +7943,7 @@ class GatewayRunner:
                         result = await result
                     return str(result) if result else None
             except Exception as e:
-                logger.debug("Plugin command dispatch failed (non-fatal): %s", e)
+                logger.warning("Plugin command dispatch failed: %s", e)
 
         # Skill slash commands: /skill-name loads the skill and sends to agent.
         # resolve_skill_command_key() handles the Telegram underscore/hyphen
@@ -7970,7 +7975,7 @@ class GatewayRunner:
                             )
                         # Fall through to normal message processing with bundle content
             except Exception as exc:
-                logger.debug("Bundle dispatch failed (non-fatal): %s", exc)
+                logger.warning("Bundle dispatch failed: %s", exc)
 
         if command and not locals().get("_bundle_handled", False):
             try:
@@ -9161,9 +9166,12 @@ class GatewayRunner:
             # Check for pending process watchers (check_interval on background processes)
             try:
                 from tools.process_registry import process_registry
-                while process_registry.pending_watchers:
-                    watcher = process_registry.pending_watchers.pop(0)
+                watchers = process_registry.pending_watchers
+                for i, watcher in enumerate(watchers):
                     asyncio.create_task(self._run_process_watcher(watcher))
+                    if i % 100 == 99:
+                        await asyncio.sleep(0)
+                watchers.clear()
             except Exception as e:
                 logger.error("Process watcher setup error: %s", e)